Canon ip8500 print head removal??

[DexterBob]

Can somebody explain the procedure for removing the print head from a Canon ip8500 in order to do the head cleaning routine?

Thanks!!

 

[hpnetserver]

Raise the hood, wait for the print head to move to the center. Unplug all 8 cartridges, Raise the lever to the right of the print head. The print head assembly can be lifted in the direction toward yourself.

Normally it's not advised to remove it for cleaning. My ip8500 is almost 2 years old now. I did remove it a few times to witness with my eyes the leaking problem caused by overfilling my cartridges. That was more than a year ago. I have not found any more need to remove it for cleaning ever since after I corrected my overfilling cause. Ip8500 and i9900 are still Canon's top dogs as of today. It's not only an expensive equipment it's no longer available. I would treat mine like a baby and give it the best and most appropriate care if it needs it.

 

[DexterBob]

Thanks!! I fear I have three blocked heads as after running 3 deep cleaning cycles, I get zero color on a test print. I don't use this printer regularly and after reading your maintenance guide, I am self diagnosing my problem. I bought the machine for its print quality, but with my limited use, maybe this was not the correct purchase??

Any thoughts short of printing every day?

Bob

 

[hpnetserver]

My ip8500 was often left unused for one or two weeks and at least once up to a month in recent days. I do not have problems of ink drying out on me. I think I do need to use it more frequently to stay out of trouble.

I believe the cause of your problem is not a simple ink drying out cause because of infrequent use of the printer. Most clogging problems I have seen were a combination of ink and ink cartridge that was unable to supply adequate ink flow to the print head. When printing photos, especially print jobs of multiple prints, presents a toughest demand on the ink flow. If the ink and cartridge combination is not able to supply ink adequately you will see reduced color saturation (slightly) then banding (also slightly) to begin with. If you keep printing clogging will soon follow. My readings on the internet have been that people will just keep printing and hope the clogging will go away. Tghe result seems to be damaged print head mostly.

My suggestion to you is to get a used empty cartridge, purge all remaining ink and fill it with windex/water mixture. Then use it as a cleaning cartridge. Plug in the cleaning cartridge to the blocked channel over night and let the windex to the work slowly. This is a safer method of cleaning based on my readings on the internet.

Again ip8500 is a treasure to own. I won't take any risk of damaging it. Good luck, DexterBob.